I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to paint chips (see exhibit A below). They all look so lovely in the hardware store that I have a hard time sticking to my intended color scheme. As a result, I have quite a collection.
Lately I’ve been eyeing my stack and formulating a few simple projects in my head. The first of which I present to you today – a DIY Easter egg garland.
This was super easy and turned out even better than I’d hoped. I love how the white line in the middle mimics the look of a plastic egg. I even enjoy the slight reflection of words from the back of the paint chips when it’s strung in front of a mirror.
You can use this to print and cut out an egg template. I used Home Depot’s Behr paint chips, which have 4 colors per card, and cut them in half eliminating all white except for the line between the two color shades.
I traced the egg on the back of the card (so there wouldn’t be any residual pencil marks on the front) and then cut them out.
Lastly, I punched two small holes in the top of each egg with an extra small hole punch and threaded them onto a piece of waxed cotton. The cotton did a great job of preventing slippage.
Once all your eggs are strung up you just have to find the perfect spot for them. Mine has already changed locations a few times and it’s not even April yet… I may have to make a few more.
P.S. Looking to simplify in 2013?
{ 112 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks great! I love this idea
Thanks for this great idea. Now I know what to do with all my paint chips! Perfect for our easter party! Thanks!
love this! so simple and pretty!
You are briLLiant !!!!!!! I am a painter/mural artist and Im digging this craft like Im digging a day oFF!!!!!!! Also totally need to know the color of the bricks on this fireplace as it is perfect!!!!!!!!!!
ChEErs
BeTh
OMG!! How cute and resourceful!!! Love it! thecoolkidsblog.com
what a brilliant idea!
Pinned it!
What a pretty way to use up those paint chips!
cute!!!! we have a stash of paint colors also. my kids seem to NEED one every time we go, and I too cant seem to make up my mind on wall colors. This is adorable!!!
Thanks for the love guys!
And Beth – flattery will get you everywhere my friend, the fireplace is Olympic Phantom Mist
This is such a great idea!
How fun! I love the colors and how easy it is.
I made some paint chip valentines for my daughter this year–she would get a kick out of this. Thanks for sharing. 
vanessa
here’s a link to the valentines: http://www.sillyeaglebooks.com/2011/01/paint-chip-valentines.html
Great idea! This may be a stupid question – but what is waxed cotton?
I can’t wait to add this to the play space I’m currently making for my twin boys.
Thanks!
Sarah
Sarah,
Waxed cotton is just a type of string that I got in the jewelry-making section of my local craft store.
Be sure to send me pics of the boys room!
Thanks so much Steph! And I will definitely send pics!
Such an easy, fun idea. Great thinking! (Oh, and I added you to my Google Reader – great blog!)
visiting by way of ohdeedoh — I love this idea! so creative! love your blog… I’ll be stopping by often.
OMG… TFS… got to make one of this!!!
This is so, so cute! I’ve just spent the last few minutes browsing this whole blog. I will be returning. SO many fun things!
Okay, that is just adorable; LOVE it!
FAB! FAB! FAB! Love it.
this is so brilliantly clever! I love it. I have this sick obsession with grabbing tons of the paint chip samples every time we go to Lowe’s. It’s horrible I tell you!!
Ahhhh, I love this! And I just picked up paint swatches to start trying to figure out what color to paint our nursery, so now I have something to do with those sweet pastels! Thanks so mucy for posting – new follower and big fan!
Really cute, can’t wait to see what else you do with it.
Brenda
Love this idea! So cute. Thanks for sharing!
I think that looks adorable! I’m going to try it!
I love this! I’m linking on my FB page today!
Gorgeous! I ♥ paintchips and this is adorable
This is great! What a fab idea!
great idea!
Heading to Home Depot now! I wonder if they will notice all their cards being taken?
Do you realize that the hardware stores have to purchase those paint cards?
So glad everyone is liking this project!
But if you get busted swiping paint chips, you never heard of me (wink wink)
GENIUS.
LOVE this idea…so simple, so sweet…and I happen to be making travel games with paint chips at the moment…what a wonderful easter travel game this would make
i loved this idea so much that i included it on my friday favorites.
thank you for the inspiration!!
babygeisler.blogspot.com
This is too perfect! I found your link via The Sweetest Occasion and have also included it in my link love today. Great idea!
This is adorable! I can’t wait to try it out with my preschooler. What size is the hole punch you used? I found 1/16″, 1/8″, 3/16″, and 1/4″. Which one should I get?
I love this and am going to steal it!! I promise to link back to you when I do
Thanks!
Super, super cute!! I am going to have to go to Lowes anyway, so I’ll pick me up some paint chips while I’m there!! I am filing this at thecraftersfilebox.com.
Thanks for sharing!
I’m a paint chip hoarder too! I love this idea, it turned out so cute!
This is adorable. I like you hoard pant chips. I am definitely going to give this a try.
So glad everyone is taking this idea and running with it!
Emily – I knew someone was going to ask me that
My hole punch is one I bought by mistake a while ago so I’m not sure which size it is. But I can tell you it’s basically the same size as the waxed cotton. I’d ask at the jewelry dept. at the craft store how wide that is and go from there.
okay – best paint chip craft yet. so adorable thanks!
Yep. Seriously darling. I’m happy to spread amazing ideas like this around the sphere:) Thank you for your creativity!
I love this idea as I too hoard paint chips. Brilliant!
Steph, I LOVE this!
Brilliant!!!
- dana
This is such a great craft idea! We passed it on to our readers at http://www.bunchfamily.ca/egg-garland.
Thank you!
such a fun and simple easter craft, definitely on my list of to dos. I also created a link to this project from my blog, thanks for sharing.
darling!!!!!
I love this…and I love paint chips.
Here are a few things I’ve done with them: http://heythingschange.com/2011/04/diy-paint-chip-invitations.html
http://heythingschange.com/2011/03/diy-paint-chip-calendar.html
http://heythingschange.com/2011/04/fun-rainbow-party.html
This is an amazing idea!
I just wanted to let you know I featured it in my recent Easter blog post 
I’ll hope you’ll visit: http://danimariedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-treats-sweets-more.html
I love this! A (basically) free decoration for Easter that is so darn cute! Very sweet!
My husband is running to home depot later and while I’d love to add this to his list of items to grab, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to tackle this one on my own.
So excited!
awesome idea…just love it. You made it seem so easy!
Thanks! This is too too cute. I’ve got my paint chips selected and found the waxed cotton at the craft store.
I’ve loved seeing everyone else’s ideas for the chips too and am now hooked on your blog.
I totally copied you today!
Thanks for sharing your idea…love it! 
http://saramosfamily.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-eggs.html
Hi Amy,
Thanks for sharing – I’ve started a pinterest page with readers versions of MPMK projects. I just added you, check it out here:
http://pinterest.com/modrentmessykid/reader-s-mpmk-projects/
What a wonderful project that incorporates recycling (and I’m amazed to find someone, apart from my sister, that has an obsession with paint chips!). I’ve mentioned your project on my blog: http://DaisyDoe.blogspot.com
Erin x
i loved this so much I have done it twice! adore! you can see it at my blog
kimboscrafts.blogspot.com
Found you on One Pretty Thing and when I was at Home Depot today, I had to grab a few paint chips. =) I’ll link to you if I end making one of these soon! Thanks!!
How Sweeter It Is
I totally made this and it has turned out GREAT! Thanks for the idea!
I bet paint stores love that people are stealing their sample cards to make crafts!
It’s a good promotion for their paint colors! I hoard hundreds from SW, BM, Home Depot, where ever I go. I’ve never had anyone in the paint store object. Once I actually took a sample of every one of their blues and had about 75-100. I also buy paint decks and share them with friends so I am helping to promote their products. heehee
this was so easy! I ended up using grosgrain ribbon for mine:
http://www.mintlovesocialclub.com/2011/04/easter-egg-garland.html
How cool!
I featured it on my Celebrations and Holidays blog.
http://celebrationsandholidays.blogspot.com/2011/04/paint-chip-easter-egg-garland-by-modern.html
Brilliant!
so cute! i’ll be linking
Beautiful! I found you on Pinterest! Would you mind if I featured this next weekend on my weekend party?
Donna
signmakergirl@hotmail.com
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
Hi Donna,
Go for it – just please only use a picture of the final product (not the full tutorial) and link back.
Thanks!
I totally made one of my own! I linked back to you on my blog, only using the final picture:)What an awesome idea! My friends and I had a blast making ours!!
hcpehrson.blogspot.com
Made one for my mantle:
HowSweeterItIs.blogspot.com/2011/04/paint-chip-easter-egg-garland.html
Thanks so much for the tutorial. Love it!!
So sweet! I’m in love. I think I’m actually going to run to Home Depot today so I can mimic this—there’s still a whole week to enjoy Easter decorations, right?
My daughter and I made some of these this weekend! Thanks for the fun and easy idea.
http://www.sillyeaglebooks.com/2011/04/paint-chip-easter-egg-garland-and.html
vanessa
This is the best idea since sliced bread! I’m going to make this today!
I loved this and have a few small ones made and hanging in variety of places in my living room and dining room. I didn’t have waxed cotton nor the energy to go find some, so I used unflavored white waxed dental floss and a needle instead of hole punch. Worked like a charm!
I just hosted a little party for some 6 year old girls and we made these garlands–they loved it! One of those rare crafts that’s easy enough for a 6 year old to make independently, yet beautiful enough to display somewhere in the house besides the fridge!
This is just beautiful! I can’t wait to make it to share on my website tomorrow! We will be talking about Easter crafts, so this will be perfect! I cast my vote for you today! Good Luck!
Brilliant idea! I have a ton of samples lying around, now I can put them to fun, festive, use!
This is a fantastic craft! I love the simplicity of it. We featured it on our blog a few weeks ago and will be highlighting the ones we made tomorrow. Thanks for the great tutorial!
Jill of oursevendwarfs.com
This came out so great!! Congrats on being featured at Funky Junk Interiors!!
Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with almost 12,000 fans. We’d love it if you’d use our Featured Blogger button, available at: http://www.dailycraft.com/thank-you-for-crafting/. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!
I think that this would be a great use for a die-cut machine if you have one; I know a lot of papercrafters have them, and it would certainly speed the process up!
Brilliant project! So happy you didn’t get any negative comments about using free paint chips in your craft projects like I just did! Thought you’d find it funny! http://handmakemyday.com/2011/07/11/she-made-paint-chip-address-cards/
Love it! thanks for sharing.
Hello! I absolutely LOVE this! It is so cute I just had to feature it on my blog!! You can see it here:
http://crafteronabudget.blogspot.com/2011/12/super-cute-paint-sample-crafts.html
This idea was so cute. I used it for Valetine’s Day but with hearts of course. I posted it on my blog so my family and friends could see and put a link to you so they could get their own great ideas!
Love this! I am also obsessed with color and paint chips and have found a few great projects around blog world for using them. Thanks for sharing this one!
Another fun idea diy paint chip project found on another blog – matchbook notebooks
http://ssbuffat.blogspot.com/2011/08/paint-chip-matchbooks.html
http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/2008/10/paint-sample-notebook-tutorial.html
another paint chip notebook tutorial with bling and embelish
If you go out and purposely take the paint chips for the project…its stealing! Its wrong and your teaching your kids its okat to take things that do not belong to them.
soooo cute! It is not stealing, i have a family member who works at home depot and they get those all the time at no cost. relax. I saw them on http://www.homeseasons.com but i never thought to make them like this. awesome.
I have been clicking through everything after coming across your site for the organize your life project via pinterest. I also have a collection of paint chips that I have always used instead of post it notes. I love this idea! There are so many possibilities. I am addicted to everything you have over here, and find it so fitting also being from Seattle and having a little one (20 months).
Also.. to the anonymous person. I worked at Lowes for years which is when I first started using paint chips for random projects and they do not pay for the paint chips. The paint company (Olympic, Valspar, etc) supplies them. The companies are happy to be getting their name out.. the cost of people taking a few extras is nothing to them. It is not stealing if they are free to take.
I have collected a lot of samples from paint projects and being indecisive, but I also grab 5-10 colors when I go in for something else.
Oh my Goodness! This paint chip egg garland is the cutest!! I just couldn’t help but feature it in a Easter crafts round-up I just did. You can see it here:
http://jamiebrock.hubpages.com/hub/Easter-Crafts-Round-Up-20-Super-Cute-Easter-Crafts
Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh my goodness!! Such a good idea!! Best part is… the paint samplers are F-R-E-E! <3
Genius – love it and will try this Easter.
Thank you for sharing,
Felicity x
This is the cutest idea ever!
I have great news to share with you. Your not the only hoarder of paint chips ( I confess) lol, I’ve got quite a collection started of my own.
I’m a scrapbooker and card maker and often thought to myself what cute pockets or tags I could use them for on my cards or photo pages.
Just the other day I took a tea pot stamp and punched out shapes using those paint chips.
There are endless possibilities to their usage. Enjoy creating with them
Great project!!!! I now feel the urge to go to Home Depot and get the paint chips!!!!!
This blog is content amazing information about Easter craft which is very useful for me. It very important information about Easter festival.
Thank you very much for this great information.
Easter Craft Ideas
I am a painter, I have a ton of these paint samples…I at Xmas cut them in present boxes and use the as tags. Thanks for giving me another crafty way to use them up! Awesome garland!!
I did my own version, following your tutorial, of this fabulous project. I shared it today on my site, at http://heathertiger.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/diy-paint-chip-easter-egg-garlands/
I am so impressed with your creativeness! Thank you for sharing, and I made sure to give proper credit to you and your great site.
Just a thought. You could probably use dental floss for stringing the eggs.
Super cute! I love this idea. I shared it on an “Easter Ideas” post on my blog: http://www.sister-dipity.blogspot.com
Hi Steph, I’m doing an Easter link up today over on my blog…http://rustsunshine.blogspot.com. Would love to have you join us with any of your awesome Easter ideas!
Gorgeous!
Hi! Thank you so much for this idea, I loved it from the second I saw it on Pinterest
I tried making one as well and managed to not do quite so well but it still came out ok I think. Not to self: always keep all the eggs the same LOL. Toward the end I got a little adventurous… It can be seen here http://mybusycraftlife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/easter-prep-stage-3-happy-easter.html and of course I linked back to your lovely tutorial. Happy Easter!
I just *love* this project idea. I too have accumulated tons of Behr paint swatches, as we always seem to be repainting one room or another. About how long are these egg shapes, from end-to-end? I amy splurge and get an oval paper punch the right size, to save time (instead of cutting each one by hand). My 7-year-old-niece is coming for Easter, and I think this will be the perfect project for her to do with me. Thanks!
Precious. Showing my version tomorrow and of course linking back! Thank you!
My mother-in-law is in an elderly home for people with Alzeimers. This project was fantastic to do with them. Everything was prepared beforehand and all they did was pass the string through the holes.
We enjoyed a lovely afternoon making these and then hanging them up to decorate the dining room and parlour for Easter.
Thanks for the idea.
My mother-in-law is in a home for the elderly who have Alzheimers. We need very simple crafts to do for them due to the fact that some do not have much dexterity.
Everything was prepared beforehand and we had residents pass the string through the holes. They were then hung up in the dining room and parlour to decorate the rooms for easter. We spent a lovely afternoon and this made them very happy. Thanks for the idea.
Try using a large embroidery needle with a sharp end to thread the string through the eggs. This way you can eliminate one of the steps. I recently did a project similar to this. I dont own a hole punch so i punched a hole with the scissors and then used my meat thermometer to make the hole nice and round and pretty. The process was a little more tedious than I would have liked but you do what you can with what you have right. Next time I am going to try the sharp embroidery needle method. Of course this idea would only be good if you were doing this project without the help of small children.
Hi there,
Just shared this link on my blog http://www.savingmummy.com.au – hope this is alright? I placed a link to your site to share your wonderful tutorial. Julia
I think its unethical to go into a store and steal paint chips. If you arent planning a project and using these to buy paint then you can argue around it all you want …..its stealing!! And someone along the way loses money when people are taking these paint chips for crafts. Now that being said you can still do fun projuects with paint chips. Talk to the manager about getting some of the paint chips that they will otherwise throw out from discontinued colours. If your doing that then it’s a win for the store and a win for the enviroment!! Something you can feel good about!!
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